3 ways to make your hotel manager's life easier

Aja Frost

Apr 15, 2016

It doesn’t matter what your title is: If you work at a hotel, one of your major responsibilities is making your boss’s life easier. Reducing their workload helps them focus on the things that really matter—so the entire hotel runs more smoothly.

Plus, your boss will definitely notice how helpful you’re being. Not only does this improve your relationship, it also increases your chances of a promotion. With that in mind, check out three techniques for removing the friction from your manager’s life.

1. Learn (and Copy!) Their Communication Style
Before you do anything else, figure out your manager’s preferred communication style. Knowing how he likes to give or receive information means you can tailor your approach accordingly—meaning he’ll be more productive and happier!

If you’ve been working with your boss for a while, you probably already have all the information you need. Does he always find you in person when you’ve got something to discuss? Does he schedule meetings for everything, even informal, five-minute check-ins? Does he give all her directions via email?

Once you’ve identified a pattern, match it as closely as you can. For instance, if your manager is a chronic emailer, you should rely on email as well.

2. Ask Your Boss, “What Can I Do?”
One of the simplest ways to make your manager’s life easier is, well, to ask her how to make their life easier!

In fact, the first time I got a raise was after asking my supervisor a very simple question: “Are there any ‘evil but necessary’ tasks I can take off your plate?” She beamed, told me she had just the project, and one month later, gave me a nice salary boost.

If you’re looking for some alternate ways to word this, try:

What’s making your job unnecessarily difficult right now? Can I help?

Are there any assignments that need to get done that I can help with?

Which tasks do you dread doing?

Asking any of these questions will instantly raise your boss’s opinion of you—and helping her out will do so even more!

3. Memorize the Protocol
Any time there’s a major question or crisis, people usually go to the hotel manager. So if you can serve as an intermediary source of information, you’ll ensure that only the big issues rise to the top.

That’s easier said than done; however, learning the complex set of rules and practices that govern your hotel’s internal operations is a fantastic strategy. For example, if you know that guests who put in theft complaints should have their rooms comped—no questions asked—you can immediately jump into action when you hear the front desk rep say, “I’m so sorry to hear about your theft complaint, Mr. Doe! Let me see how we typically handle this…”

Starting with the nitty-gritty of your own department or role is wise, but you should aim to eventually memorize the protocol for the entire hotel. After all, your manager has!

Once you’ve solved some of your manager’s common problems, you’ll become an instrumental part of his or her team. If you left, after all, three or four issues would immediately spring up again. Ultimately, making your boss’s life easier is the quickest way to keep your job (and hopefully get a promotion).